Up for sale is this much-cherished by me – and much-coveted by others! – velvet sallet made by Roman Tereschenko.

I regard Roman as one of the few modern ‘masters’ of the sallet, and this one is quite special.

The form is based on the Barron de Casson ‘black’ sallet, one of the handful of ‘black’ sallets we have remaining.

The sallet is lined with red velvet on the inside, and purple on the outside. The steel is 1.5 mm thick, and the helmet features a cast buckle and sewn liner. Roman rated the helmet is for 58–59 cm head circumference.

I bought this piece new from Roman, and have not used it for living history – it has just been a collection piece.

I’ve used Roman’s original photos, which are better than what I could take. The helmet is much as I bought it from him, although there are some slight circular impressions from the bubble wrap it has recently been stored in – these should ‘lift’ with some uncompressed time in the sun and/or gentle blowdrying.

In any case, you’re getting a rare re-creation of an iconic extant helmet by a modern master of the form.

This piece is located in New Zealand, and will ship via NZ Post at cost with full insurance. (Previous sallets to the US and Europe, for example, have cost about US$50–60.)